Morning came with little fanfare. King Cedric sat in his fancy gilded throne room, curiously unfettered by the usual hobnob of attendants and advisors.
He had ordered them all out of the room so he could receive the king of another kingdom in private.
Not even Talia was in the room with him. Cedric wanted to focus the conversation around the fortification of the kingdom and not in a father and child reunion, which would come later that day.
It seemed Sibyl had arranged for the entire family to come together for an afternoon brunch so each member could take some time out and get to know one another.
\Cedric of course, would have to attend. He would, after all, be their newest addition to the family.
It did not take long for King Jero to be announced by the door announcer.
"Presenting, King Jero of Betaluse!"
Cedric put down his document and stood up. Normally, as King, he did not have to stand unless he felt like it, but Jero was not only the king of a neighboring kingdom, he was also Cedric's father-in-law.
"Greetings, Your Royal Highness." King Jero hailed at the entryway.
"Good morning King Jero." Cedric made his way towards King Jero. "Thank you for making time to see me at such early time of the morning. I know we will be meeting later on today for Lady Belladonna's brunch, but I wanted to consult you on something of great importance before then."
"Understood." King Jero nodded.
"Please, this way." Cedric extended a hand towards a small round dinette area near the fireplace where hot coffee and pastries had been laid out for the esteemed guest.
An attendant was waiting to pour the coffee and serve the pastries for the kings. Once he was done, he retreated from the room to give the two kings some privacy.
Cedric quickly got down to business.
He produced the latest vision from High Priestess and handed it to King Jero. He quickly went over the pertinent details of the prophecy and how it related to Talia, Vander, and himself.
"And so you see, I cannot allow my wife to travel to worlds unknown, pregnant, and alone with a vampire prince from another kingdom. I also cannot have any random john marking her and claiming her as his." He said with a dry twist of his lips.
King Jero gave a merest hint of a smile.
"I normally do not interfere in the workings of another kingdom since I have my own issues to deal with, but in this case, my daughter is involved, and therefore, I am also involved."
Cedric nodded. "I am glad to hear that because I need your help."
"I will lend aid in any way I possibly can." King Jero paused to take a sip of his hot coffee.
"I want to join Vander and Talia in their journey. He is looking for his brother and I need to find my sister."
"Fair enough. That way, Vander will not need to mark Talia since you have already marked her, and you can protect my daughter and my unborn grandson."
"I will lay my life on the line to ensure her safety." Cedric announced without hesitation.
"Try to stay safe and return without harm."
"This is where I am having some issues. As you know, Count Larabee—"
"Do not worry about that oaf." King Jero grinned. "I sent him a message saying that I would join forces with him to deal with you."
Cedric blinked. What in the word did he mean by that?
King Jero gave a light chuckle.
"Well I had to do something. I saw him and his men camp out in front of the gates of your castle, ready to launch some sort of military offense."
"I threw him a bone, saying that I would join him and do battle. What he did not understand was that the battle would be against him and not with him."
"Ahhh." Cedric crinkled his eyes. "I was about to go out to deal with him and suddenly, he withdrew. I had no idea it was due to your intervention."
"Tch. The fool." King Jero clicked his tongue. "My wife and children were within the grounds. Did he think I was just going to sit back and allow him to wreak havoc while my family was within firing range?"
"He must not know who Talia and Tarot really are." Cedric chuckled. "
"He did not." King Jaro confirmed. "He has no idea Sibyl is my wife. We have never announced it to the world although she is recorded in my royal register as Fifth Consort."
"What of Talia and Tarot?"
"Both Talia and Tarot have been duly recorded as well."
Cedric nodded.
"Count Larabee is a brown bird who wants to be a red phoenix. I do not have the time at the moment to deal with him, but once things calm down, I will handle him myself. In the meantime…"
"Yes?" King Jaro leaned forward.
"I need your help in the meantime so I can go with Talia and Vander to rescue my sister and her husband. I have to leave within the next twenty-four hours in order to save her unborn baby."
King Jaro leaned back in his seat and pondered Cedric's request.
"I am the king of a neighboring kingdom. Aren't you afraid that I will take over your kingdom to expand my holdings?"
"You are Talia's father and Sibyl's husband. Would you risk alienating their affections after having gone through so much effort to reunite with them?"
King Jaro laughed. It was a rich, full-belly laugh that shook his entire large muscular frame.
"I had heard of the new King of Faria being a wise man who ruled well. I now have full understanding of just how astute you are."
"Will you help me?"
"Of course. I want my daughter to return to a calm and peaceful kingdom and pick up her reign as Queen of Faria. I also want my grandson to be a legitimate Prince who has both his mother and father."
Cedric inclined his head.
"She is, and will forever be, my only wife."
King Jero narrowed his eyes.
"I will hold you to that." He paused for a moment to take a bite of his croissant as he pondered the words Cedric had said.
He had also promised Sibyl that she would be his only wife. That would take some doing and he was still not sure exactly how to handle that.
Oh well. What will be, will be.
All he could do was try his best to keep everything in the calmest, most orderly manner possible. This included managing Faria's affair while King Cedric was away.
King Jero looked up with assurance.
"Do not worry too much Cedric. I will handle all external affairs in your stead since that is the most crucial piece of running the kingdom. Internal affairs, you can put on hold for awhile, or assign them to your close advisors to handle."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Cedric nodded. Trust an experienced king to know what to do and hit the ground running.
"You can call me Father Jero." King Jero laughed.
Cedric grinned. "Thank you, Father Jero."